HUTCHINSON — You name the offensive set and chances are Nemaha Valley coach Hadden Hiltgen toyed with using it at least once during his team’s Class 3A girls quarterfinal Thursday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

Quite simply, he was looking for something, anything, that might snap his Raiders out of the offensive funk in which they found themselves against Caney Valley.

“We tried about everything we had,” Hiltgen said. “It was like we were holding on to the ball a little too long, unsure of what to do. We maybe played a little scared, but first-round games can be like that.”

Whatever offensive woes Nemaha Valley went through, however, the Raiders compensated for them with a stellar defensive performance. Nemaha Valley shut down Caney standouts Desiree Nelson and Makenzie Vining in the second half, pulling out a 36-34 win.

The victory — the program’s first at the state tourney since winning the 2003 state championship — moved the Raiders (20-4) a step closer to another crown and into Friday’s 3 p.m. semifinal against Lyons (16-8), which stunned No. 1 seed Riley County 57-49.

“Defense is what got us here and that’s what we live on,” Hiltgen said. “The girls take great pride in it and we made just enough shots and free throws to get by today.”

After Caney had battled back from five down in the fourth quarter to tie it a 31-31 on Vining’s bucket with 2:07 to go, the Raiders got the winning basket when Kennedy McKernan worked free for a score with 1:07 to go.

Nemaha then made 3 of 6 free throws in the last 45 seconds, but the biggest play came on the defensive end where Moriah Rottinghaus came up with a tipped pass as Nelson tried to feed Vining with the Bullpups down three.

Vining and Nelson had scored 19 of Caney’s 21 points in the first half, combining to hit 8 of 18 shots. But with the Raiders employing a triangle-and-two, the Bullpup duo was held to just five points the second half on 2-of-8 shooting.

“Those two are players and can score the ball in bunches,” Hiltgen said of Vining (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Nelson (11 points). “We wanted to frustrate them and we really wore them down.”

Rachael Baumgartner came off the bench to lead Nemaha Valley with 12 points and McKernan added eight. The Raiders had a decided size advantage inside, but bigs Madison Koch (0 of 8) and Michaela Stallbaumer (2 of 9) had trouble finding the mark.

LYONS 57, RILEY COUNTY 49 — When Riley County took the opening tip against Lyons and turned it into a quick 3-pointer from Taylor Oliver, it looked like it would simply be business as usual for the No. 1-ranked Falcons.

Instead, the rest of the game was anything but a typical Riley County performance.

Entering the game shooting 42 percent from 3-point range and turning it over less than 10 times a game, the Falcons struggled mightily in both areas. The result was a 57-49 upset loss that sent Riley County home early for the second straight year.

“It really was (uncharacteristic),” Falcon coach Harold Oliver said. “Their press bothered us. If we’re healthy — and I’m not taking anything away from what Lyons did — it makes a huge difference. But you’ve got to give them credit because they put us back on our heels a little bit.”

Riley County finished its season 22-2 with the only other loss to defending 4A champion Wamego.

After Oliver’s game-opening 3-pointer, she buried another one three possessions later that gave the Falcons a 6-3 lead. But Riley County then proceeded to miss its next eight 3-point attempts before finally connecting again late in the first half.

For the game, the Falcons finished just 10 of 30 from beyond the arc with Oliver making half of them in a 5-for-10, 15 point effort. Shooting star Madison Vargo suffered through a 2-of-11 performance and finished with 14 points and Katelyn Thomson was 3 of 8 and added 13 points.

Riley County might have overcome its shooting woes had it not been for their trouble with the Lions’ press. With Thomson playing with a heavy brace on her injured right knee, the Falcons couldn’t attack Lyons’ full-court pressure and finished with 17 turnovers.

“Our goal and mentality all season long has been to attack presses, score at the other end and make them get out of it,” Harold Oliver said. “Tonight, it seemed like we had a little bit of uncertainty and doubt and couldn’t get the ball in the right peoples’ hands.”

Riley County still led 37-35 midway through the third after back-to-back 3-pointers from Vargo and Thomson. But Lyons responded with a 7-0 to take the lead for good.

Oliver closed the quarter with a 3-pointer to get the Falcons within two, but Lyons scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and Riley County never fully recovered.

Brenna McClure scored 16 to lead the Lions and Alexis Lasater and Rachel Minix each added 11.

COUNCIL GROVE 58, CIMARRON 53, OT — For a program that hadn’t been to a state tournament in 20 years and hadn’t won a state tournament game in 30, Council Grove sure didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the stage at the onset of Thursday’s final quarterfinal. The Braves hit four of their first six shots and jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead.

More importantly, the Braves didn’t flinch when it mattered most. After seeing the third-seeded Bluejays force overtime on Morgan Ediger’s 3-pointer with 58 seconds left in regulation, Council Grove (20-4) regrouped and took control late in the extra period to earn a berth in Friday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal against No. 2 seed Hesston (23-1).

“Late, especially in overtime, we stepped up and hit free throws, showed leadership and made sure we stayed ready to go,” Council Grove coach Jason Shelangouski said.

Cimarron grabbed a quick lead in overtime, but two baskets by Megan Poole swung it back to the Braves’ favor. The teams traded ties at 49, 51 and 53 before a layup by Faith Brintle — who saw a shot to win at the regulation buzzer fall just short — put the Braves ahead for good with 1:26 left.

Ediger missed a 3-pointer on Cimarron’s ensuing possession and the Bluejays got it back on a jump ball. But Hailee Hoskinson couldn’t connect on the second chance and Kate Hula clinched the win with 3 of 4 free throws in the last 20.7 seconds — the final two coming after the Braves’ blocked Hoskinson’s 3-point attempt to try and tie it with five seconds left.

“We had a chance to win it at the end,” Shelangouski said. “They just wanted to win. That’s the only question I had to ask them. ‘Do you want to win? OK, you’ve got four minutes to prove it.’”

Cimarron (21-3) was led by Ediger’s 22 points, but the Bluejays went just 3 of 29 on 3-pointers.

HESSTON 58, DOUGLAS 34 — Hesston smacked Douglass with an 11-0 run to start the game and 20-3 first quarter to roll into the semifinals. Cami Richardson and Kelsey Unruh each scored 15 points and Caylee Richardson added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Swathers (23-1). Douglass, coached by former Topeka West coach Jason Wilson, got 11 points from Klair Gibson and finished the season 18-6.

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